Senate Concurrent Resolution 533

(COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 33, 273, 56, 61 AND 72, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT AMENDMENTS TO THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION MAY ONLY BE PROPOSED BY THE LEGISLATURE, BUT THAT THE PEOPLE RESERVE TO THEMSELVES THE RIGHT TO EXERCISE THE LEGISLATIVE POWER OF THE STATE TO PROPOSE NEW LAWS AND TO AMEND OR REPEAL EXISTING LAWS BY INITIATIVE, AND TO APPROVE OR REJECT THE SAME IN AN ELECTION INDEPENDENT OF THE LEGISLATURE.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendments to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 are proposed to the qualified electors of the state:

Amend Section 33, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

Section 33. (1) The legislative power of this state shall be vested in a Legislature which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives, but the people reserve to themselves the right to exercise the legislative power of the state to propose new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by initiative, and to approve or reject the same in an election independent of the Legislature, in the manner prescribed in and subject to the provisions of this section.

(2) The people reserve unto themselves the power to propose legislative petitions by ballot initiative. An initiative to propose a legislative petition may be proposed by a petition signed over a nine-month period by qualified electors equal in number to at least twelve percent (12%) of the total qualified electors of the state as of the date of the last presidential election. The signatures of the qualified electors from any county shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of the total number of signatures required to qualify an initiative petition for placement upon the ballot. The signatures of the qualified electors from any congressional district shall not exceed the total number of signatures required to qualify an initiative measure for placement on the ballot divided by the number of congressional districts in existence on the day that the petition is filed. If an initiative petition contains signatures from a single county which exceed ten percent (10%) of the total number of required signatures or from a single congressional district which exceed the total number of required signatures, the excess number of signatures from that county or congressional district shall not be considered by the Secretary of State in determining whether the petition qualifies for placement on the ballot. At least one hundred (100) signatures must be collected from each county, which shall include at least ten (10) signatures from each incorporated municipality in that county.

(3) The sponsor of an initiative shall identify in the text of the initiative the amount and source of revenue required to implement the initiative. If the initiative requires a reduction in any source of government revenue, or a reallocation of funding from currently funded programs, the sponsor shall identify in the text of the initiative the program or programs whose funding must be reduced or eliminated to implement the initiative. Compliance with this requirement shall not be a violation of the subject matter requirements of this section of the Constitution.

(4) The initiative process shall not be used:

(a) For the proposal, modification or repeal of any portion of this Constitution;

(b) To amend or repeal any law relating to the Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System;

(c) To amend or repeal the constitutional guarantee that the right of any person to work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor union or organization;

(d) To propose, amend or repeal any local or special law; or

(e) To dedicate revenues or make or repeal appropriations.

(5) The Secretary of State shall file with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate the complete text of the certified initiative on the first day of the regular session. An initiative measure may be adopted or adopted as amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of each house of the Legislature. If the initiative is adopted, amended or rejected by the Legislature; or if no action is taken within four (4) months of the date that the initiative is filed with the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative on the ballot for the next statewide general election.

The Chief Legislative Budget Officer shall prepare a fiscal analysis of each initiative and each legislative alternative. A summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot.

(6) No more than two (2) initiative proposals may be submitted to the voters on a single ballot, and the first two (2) initiative proposals submitted to the Secretary of State with sufficient petitions shall be the proposals which are submitted to the voters. The sufficiency of petitions shall be decided in the first instance by the Secretary of State, subject to review by the Supreme Court of the state, which shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all such cases.

(7) An initiative approved by two-thirds (2/3) of the electors during a general election shall be filed with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate and placed on the legislative calendar of each house of the Legislature. An initiative measure adopted or amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of each house of the Legislature shall become law.

(8) If any initiative petition is rejected by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon, no initiative petition proposing the same, or substantially the same, proposal shall be submitted to the electors for at least five (5) years after the date of the election on such initiative.

(9) The Legislature shall provide by law the manner in which initiative petitions shall be circulated, presented and certified, and may enact laws to carry out the provisions of this section.

II.

Amend Section 56, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

Section 56. The style of the laws of the state that are enacted by the Legislature shall be: "Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi."

III.

Amend Section 61, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

Section 61. No law enacted by the Legislature or by initiative of the people shall be revived or amended by reference to its title only, but the section or sections, as amended or revived, shall be inserted at length.

IV.

Amend Section 72, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

Section 72. Every Bill which shall pass both Houses shall be presented to the Governor of the state. If he approve, he shall sign it; but if he does not approve, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon its Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds (2/3) of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other House, by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds (2/3) of that House, it shall become a law; but in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the Governor within five (5) days (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented to him, it shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature, by adjournment, prevented its return, in which case such Bill shall be a law unless the Governor shall veto it within fifteen (15) days (Sundays excepted) after it is presented to him, and such Bill shall be returned to the Legislature, with his objections, within three (3) days after the beginning of the next session of the Legislature. The provisions of this section are not applicable to initiative measures approved by the people.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That these proposed amendments shall be submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2023, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law, with the proposed amendments in this resolution being voted on as one amendment.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment provides that amendments to the Mississippi Constitution may only be proposed by the Legislature, but that the people reserve to themselves the right to exercise the legislative power of the state to propose new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by initiative, and to approve or reject the same in an election independent of the Legislature."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution shall stand repealed on October 31, 2023.